You should read Mat’s list for a more sensible look back at 2007, he’s the most erudite student of film here at Dead Lantern. I, on the other hand, sort of just like what I like. My list is broken into two sections, first are the films that I thought were the best, most standout films that I saw in 2007. After that are the movies that I really enjoyed personally, but that I wouldn’t classify as high art by any means.

And like Mat said: We live in a smallish midwestern city; we don’t get the opportunity to see everything theatrically, so some indie darlings and other slightly more obscure fare may have simply flown under our radar. This list is not definitive, it’s just the best of what I managed to see at the theater.

First, the movies that I thought were really great in 2007…

No Country for Old Men is probably my pick for best movie of the year. Such a simple, yet captivating, premise: What if you found a bag full of dirty money? It’s like a superior version of A Simple Plan (no offense, Mat) that trades boring family angst drama for one of the most commanding villains in recent memory.

300 ranks just a hair below No Country for me. Okay, yes, I realize that the historical events didn’t happen like this and there are plenty of aspects of the Spartan society that I would disagree with. However, within the context of this movie, the Spartans are the most badass movie heroes of the year and their uncompromising pro-freedom message is as thrilling as any fist-pumping rock concert.

I’m not a movie snob by any means (for proof, just continue reading this list) but I really think that anyone who says Planet Terror is the better half of Grindhouse is just out of their mind. Death Proof is fantastic, it perfectly achieves exactly what it was aiming for. The whole thing is great, but that one single moment where Stuntman Mike looks at the camera is worth the price of admission.

Mega dittos to everything Mat’s said about Cronenberg. He’s drifted away from the horror genre lately, but I won’t hold it against him because his work has been top-notch. Case in point: Eastern Promises, a crime drama about Russian mobsters operating in London.

Bug is a wonderfully weird little movie. Mat and I disagreed about it way back on Splattercast #30, and I still say it was one of 2007’s more interesting films. If you’re willing to accept the premise and go along for the ride, it’s a lot of fun to watch the characters spiral downward into madness. Harry Connick Jr. deserves props for turning in an excellent performance as an abusive boyfriend who despite being cruel is the only glimmer of sanity by the movie’s end.

Now for the second part of my list: a selection of movies that weren’t amazing (or maybe even good at all) but that I personally enjoyed nonetheless…

Ghost Rider is a pretty fluffy movie. The villains are horrible and the whole affair definitely pales in comparison to the far superior Spider-Man films. Still, for fans of the character, this was a fun watch. Just seeing Ghost Rider realized on the big screen is worth a look. I mean, come on, it’s at least better than X-Men 3.

A few head-scratching plot holes drag this vampire flick down, but 30 Days of Night is still a very good genre picture with a great setting, an original premise and some satisfying gore.

Shoot Em Up is like an R-rated Looney Tunes version of an action movie. It’s totally absurd, but in the best possible way.

What can I say? I still like the Saw franchise even after the fourth iteration. Saw 4 serves as a sort of bridge between the previous three films and the future of the franchise. There were plenty of things that didn’t make sense, but I appreciate that the filmmakers are trying to move the story forward with new characters and plotlines. We talked about it back on Splattercast #51, if you’re interested in hearing more.

Sort of weird of me to put a straight-up comedy on my list, but I thought Superbad was a lot of fun. It’s probably the raunchiest movie of the year, and several Gyno-Americans I’ve talked to didn’t appreciate the humor at all. However, if this sort of R-rated comedy is up your alley, Superbad does it better than anyone.

So there you have it, the flicks I most remember enjoying in 2007. Here’s hoping 2008 will be even better!

Filed under: Commentary, Movies | 1 Comment »

It’s that time. Everybody is coming out with their obligatory “Top 10″ list so I might as well be part of the crowd. There really wasn’t any specific criteria for my list other than these were the films that I really liked. I’m not trying to find the best movies, just the ones that I really enjoyed the most. And yes, it is possible for me to really like bad movies Without further ado…

Yes, I really liked this movie. For all of its faults, Spidey 3 managed to hit most of the right chords for me. I really liked the humor, action, and characters. Could it have been better? Sure. We reviewed this film back on Splattercast 29 and if I remember correctly, most of the guys were telling me how retarded it was for me to defend this movie. It could lose a plot or two (or three…), but that doesn’t diminish the fact that I had a real good time watching this.

Another summer blockbuster that really delivered for me. I was really expecting this movie to suck but when I came out of the theatre, I was all smiles. Although the title blows, the film had some great action set pieces (loved Willis battling that fighter jet!) and other than an obnoxiously out of place cameo by Kevin Smith, I dug the story. It didn’t hurt that Mary Elizabeth Winstead was in it. Some people lament the fact that John McClane has become basically a superhero and not an “average dude”. That doesn’t really bother me. I love the character and the crazier the scenario, the better as far as I’m concerned.

300 was an orgy of cool. This is like the total “guy” movie. Monsters, fighting, naked Spartan women, bloodshed, and crazy special effects. Zack Snyder mostly delivered on what I wanted to see and since I have a hard-on for not only the Battle of Thermopylae, but also the Classics in general, this flick hit the spot. I imagine this is what we at Deadlantern.com would do if we were threatened by another podcast. We’d take off our shirts, pick up our spears, and mow their asses down. We’d do that, right guys? Would that make Frank from the Sleepy Cast Xerxes?

Hatchet seems to be a love it or hate it film. I’m in the former category. We actually reviewed this for Splattercast #59 so you’ll hear more about my thoughts on the film soon. It’s full of great kills, acting, and characters. Perhaps the humor doesn’t balance with the horror as well as many might hope for, but I really dug everything about it. Surprising for me, since I usually hate anything that is hyped as being great.

My inner liberal finally shows! Whatever you may think about Michael Moore and his past films, Sicko is probably his finest two hours in more ways than one. First, he basically stops his “It’s George Bush’s fault” shtick and focuses on the issue rather than the political aspect of it. He also makes the wise decision to take himself out of most of the film and just focus on the people in our country screwed by the health “care” system. It’s a powerful piece of filmmaking. Unfortunately, nobody watched it. Which is sad because this is a far more interesting film than Fahrenheit 9/11. It’ll make you sad and pissed off.

I just caught this on DVD the other day and once again Cronenberg just floored me with his greatness. He’s probably one of the most least appreciated directors going right now. He’s like Midas, everything he touches turns to cinematic gold. All of the performances in the film are award worthy, especially Viggo, who seems to be trying his hardest to shed the Aragorn out of his life. David Cronenberg continues to make magic and Eastern Promises is his latest

Who says remakes suck? 3:10 to Yuma is proof positive that as long as you have a talented director and some great actors, you can do it. Christian Bale and Russell Crow are just spectacular in their roles and it’s always nice to see a big budget western back on the big screen. The ending is just killer and picture perfect. It’s everything you want in a western and I’m hoping it garners some awards later this year.

Normally, Danny Boyle isn’t someone I get excited about. I think Trainspotting is overrated, I despise The Beach, and 28 Days Later is good until the nonsense with the military dudes. However, Sunshine is just fantastic. The story centers around a group of scientists trying to restart our dying sun with a giant thermonuclear bomb. This is humanity’s last chance as the first mission mysteriously disappeared. Bad things start happening when they find the lost ship, which has reappeared mysteriously. Sunshine is Event Horizon only good. That may be blasphemy to a lot of people, and I don’t mean to say that EH sucks or anything (though it certainly hasn’t aged well), but Sunshine is a far more interesting film. As with most of Boyle’s films, the last act starts to fly apart, but the film as a whole is kickass.

Grindhouse came and went with a whimper more than likely bruising the egos of Tarantino and Rodriguez. I didn’t care for Planet Terror (tried way too hard to be cool) and though the trailers were funny, the only thing that really stuck out to me was Death Proof. I think we discussed this on a past Splattercast, but from the first shot of the film, you know you’re in the hands of a master filmmaker. Tarantino just runs loops around Rodriguez. A lot of the people hated the “boredom” and constant chick dialogue, but if you are one of those people, then you kinda missed the point of what the film was trying to do. Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike is an instant cult icon and the second best villian of the year in cinema. This film also features Mary Elizabeth Winstead…

Very rarely does a film just totally blow me away. No Country For Old Men did just that. This is the kind of movie that makes people love cinema. It’s just so damn great on every level. All of the acting is perfect and Javier Bardem plays the scariest mo-fo to grace the silver screen in years. You can listen to us slurp this movie on Splattercast 56. If Bardem doesn’t win an Oscar for his performance then it will be one of the biggest travesties in Oscar history. This is also a film that forces you to think. After you leave the theatre, it’s images, story, and subtext will stay with you and that’s probably the highest compliment a film can ever get. The Coen Brothers finally stopped making shitty films and got back to their roots, let’s hope they stay there.

And there you have it, my favorite films of the past year. One honorable mention: The Prestige. Technically, this came out in 2006, but I didn’t see it until this past year when it was released on DVD. In terms of pure enjoyment, this would probably rival No Country. I didn’t include it in the list, but probably should have. It’s got a “Wow” factor that is hard to top. It would probably be #2 on my list if it were included.

Happy New Year!

Filed under: Commentary, Fun Stuff, Top 5... | 9 Comments »

A couple weeks ago Steve and Mat were asking me what our total review count was at. I just went into the database and crunched some numbers to pull out that information, along with some other stats.

I should note that if you start double-checking me, some of my figures won’t add up. This is because I designed the database to not be very strict. So Mat can rate Hell of the Living Dead as “An Inescapable Abyss out of 10″ and Steve can rate Zombie 5: Killing Birds as “negative infinity minus 1 out of 10″ - and it’s good for some laughs but I can’t really do math on those reviews. So little things like that will throw off the stats slightly but it’s not like we’re doing brain surgery here, I don’t think it will matter too much.

So, here are some numbers pulled from our reviews database…

We currently have 557 reviews: 453 movie, 43 game, 33 book and 28 music.

Mat leads the pack with 316 reviews, Steve has 101, I have 24, Brady has 12 and Sleepycast co-host Ronin has 9. Carlin also has 9, but the most important contribution he’s made has been this one. Oh, and some guy named Adam has 34. I have no recollection of this dude, but shout-outs to him for contributing back in the day.

Site-wide, the average score of our movie reviews is a 4.4 out of ten. By reviewer, Mat on average gives a movie a 3.7, Steve a 4.9, Brady a 4.5 and I’m more generous with a 6.9 average.

A breakdown of number of movies by score is as follows, with fractional scores rounded down (so a 4.5 review score is reflected in the 4 figure)…

0: 23
1: 32
2: 42
3: 38
4: 43
5: 34
6: 49
7: 83
8: 61
9: 39
10: 6

The six 10’s were given by Mat (Predator, Aliens, Robot Monster) and Adam (The Shawshank Redemption, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Shaun of the Dead)

Filed under: Commentary, Fun Stuff, Reviews | 5 Comments »

As Jack Bauer would say: “Today is the longest day of my life”

I’ve finished up all my papers that are due tomorrow with the exception of my 15-20 page scenario project for my World Politics class. I’m going to start that in a few minutes and basically have 24 hours to get it done. I’m going to be up all day and night. Yay procrastination! My goal is to have 8 pages done by 5 p.m. today. Can I do it?  I have my doubts, but I’ll keep checking in throughout the day.

And away I go…

Filed under: Commentary | 14 Comments »

Here’s an interesting investigation done by Marco Lanzagorta that charts worldwide horror film releases by decade. His investigation only uses the Internet Movie Database to chart general trends of the genre, but it is interesting to think about.

A particularly interesting piece of information quoted in the article: “during the ‘60s only about 35 percent of the horrors film made in the world were produced in the US. Since then, however, this percentage has increased rather dramatically. Indeed, while in 1961, 32 percent of the fear flicks were American, by 2006 the percentage increased to 68, more than doubling its value and completely dominating the current market.”

Once again, these are just general numbers that only take into account what the IMDb considers “horror”, but it gives some evidence to my opinion that horror fans are so starved for quality films, that they’ll jump on anything in order to satiate that desire. There’s been a long standing opinion amongst American horror fans in particular that American horror sucks. Innovation has been ceded to Asia, and to a lesser extent, Europe and Mexico so the popular opinion goes. There is a notion that America, rather than lead the world in quality, has fallen back on rehashing its own “classics” and is more concerned with quantity over quality.

Maybe that’s true to a certain extant. What can’t be denied is that there has been an amazing increase in output of American horror cinema. Whether it be big budget studio films, or low-budget shlock, the sheer amount of horror films has skyrocketed. What this means is that our favorite genre is enjoying a popularity and interest that has never been seen before now in terms of output, artistic interest, and acceptance . There must be some reason why thousands upon thousands of people in America are making horror movies, right? I’ve gotta believe it goes beyond simply wanting to “make a quick buck” with a low-budget film.

There’s also got to be something as to why America in particular has increased its horror output so dramatically. Maybe it’s just a new generation of young people raised on fun 80’s films? Maybe we can just afford cameras and have easier access to the tools necessary to make films than other countries? What is going on right now that has caused us to latch onto horror so fiercely?

But by having such a dramatic increase in films, it becomes harder and harder to find the quality. When you see 20 no-budget films with no production values and horrendous acting, does that make a film like Hostel seem “superior” by comparison? I’m not trying to pick on Eli Roth, but I think there is a real feeling amongst horror fans that they are so desperately trying to find something to like, that they’ll overlook certain films just because everything around it is so poor in comparison.

I haven’t really tried to answer anything definitively with this blog entry. But I’ve posed a bunch of questions and am interested in hearing what you all think. What do you think is behind the explosion of horror films here in America? Do you think it’s diluted the quality for the sake of quantity? How does this information change the way we currently perceive the “health” of the genre?

Give me your thoughts.

Filed under: Commentary | 2 Comments »

JoBlo has a contest running for a Terminator poster that caught my attention. Maybe it’s because I’m taking a Gender Communication class at my friendly neighborhood public university, and I see everything through a gendered lens, but this is definitely a strange poster in my view.

If the woman in this picture is supposed to be Sarah Conner (which I’m pretty sure isn’t the case), then this is a pretty drastic change in terms of sexualization of the character since the end of T2. If you remember, Sarah Conner went from the naive, breast baring victim to a weathered “pissed off at the world” ultra de-feminzed version of herself. One thing’s for sure, Sarah Conner wasn’t what anyone would call “sexy” or “alluring” in T2. The new Fox show, which you can check out right here, takes place after the events of T2, so that poster wouldn’t really be applicable to the character.

If it’s the new Terminator, then that makes more sense, but why would you show a giant close-up of its breasts? Even this poster is still sexualized, but at least you know it’s a damn killing machine. It at least reveals something about the show. The poster to the right does no such thing. It’s actually pointless. When I see something like this, it doesn’t give me any faith in the show at all. If the marketing campaign has to rely on giant breasts to generate interest, then that doesn’t bode well for the quality of the program in my opinion. I’m still going to watch this show, all I’m saying is that superficial “sex sells” stuff like this raises more red flags than it generates reactions of “Holy crap, I really want to see this now!”

I love all three Terminator films, but when I watch one, I don’t want sex to be in the equation. The joke in T3 when Kristanna Loken “enhances” her breasts for the cop was just stupid. I don’t need sex to sell me on a Terminator TV show. I want a killing machine. That is all.

In any event, this would make a great Splattercast discussion topic that could branch out into the greater topic of how women are portrayed in horror films. Feminists hate most horror movies and I’m sure they are looking at that poster to the left and saying something like “Men control the advertising! Down with all men!”. That’s sarcasm folks. I respect any and all of our feminist readers Anyways, diverging off into another subject, I’m going to be writing about Hostel and taking a look at the film from a gendered perspective for my final paper this semester in my Gender class. Now that should be an interesting viewing session

UPDATE: a little research has revealed that the female terminator is John Conner’s “protector” and goes to school with him, making that sexualization factor a little more creepy…

Filed under: Commentary, News | 7 Comments »

Okay, I know I’m really late to the game on this one, since the movie’s been out for many months, but I finally watched Hostel 2 on DVD last night. I must say, I liked it quite a bit. I think it’s a great companion to the first movie, and is probably the better of the two. Once again I have a starkly different opinion than most of the other fellas on the site. For reference, here are links to Mat’s reviews of Hostel 1 and Hostel 2 (quick summary: he hated them both). So, anyway, for what it’s worth here are my thoughts on Hostel 2…

You could say that this is just the same as the previous movie except with young women as protagonists instead of young men, and you’d have a point. However, I think that H2 is more than just a crappy cash-in. I’m not saying that Roth didn’t strike while the iron was hot (and so what if he did?) but even so, H2 is pretty decent.

Right off the bat, the girls are far more likeable than H1’s very douchey “arrogant American” male leads. Yeah, Bijou Phillips’ character is trampy, but she’s more than tempered by Lauren German and Heather Matarazzo’s polite, nice girl characters. Maybe it’s just me as a guy feeling bad for pretty girls, but the leads in H2 were much more tragic than the guys in H1. You can come out of H1 and sort of say “Those dicks were asking for it!” but that element is nowhere in H2. Which maybe makes H2’s characters even less complex than H1’s, but that’s not what I’m trying to say.

H2 also features a subplot that follows a pair of clients, two American businessmen, as they travel from the U.S. to Europe for a pay-to-slay vacation. Their plot converges with the girls’ plot at the movie’s climax. I loved this part of the movie. There’s a little twist with these two guys that I probably should have seen coming, but I didn’t, and I thought it was really cool as it unfolded.

I dunno, I guess I shouldn’t go on too long here. I think maybe my sunny assessment of Hostel 2 is partly a reaction to the overwhelmingly negative things I’d heard prior to seeing it for myself. Mat has spoken often about how a big hype machine around a movie tends to repel him, and I think the opposite has happened here with me and Hostel 2. I’d heard so many negative things - call it “anti-hype” - that when I watched the movie and it turned out to be even a little enjoyable, then the result is me being very positive about it. Sort of like when we did the Uwe Boll special for Splattercast #50. Set against the hyperbolic things I’d heard, watching a Boll movie and having it not be a total black hole of awfulness left me with an even more positive view of the film than I would have had if I’d been able to go into it with a purely neutral frame of mind.

It’ll never happen, but I’d actually love to see a third and final Hostel film where the Beth character from H2 uses her fortune to hire some badass contract killers to go destroy the hunting club. I envision a sort of action-horror mix, heavy on the action. Tons of shooting, bloody squibs everywhere and with Beth winning in the end.

So, yeah, Hostel 2… I thought it was worth watching.

Filed under: Commentary, DVD, Movies | 5 Comments »

Listen for jokes about the 8-limbed Hindu freak baby on Splattercast #52!

Filed under: Commentary, Fun Stuff | 1 Comment »

Wooo, one more set of classes out of the way.  I just have to keep telling myself, “one more year…one more year…one more year…”

Filed under: Commentary | 2 Comments »

I want to thank Nikki Finke for visiting Deadlantern.com and sending me a cheerful e-mail with the subject line “Did you see this posting?” and then including a link to her “Exclusive” with Eli Roth.

If Ms. Finke had done some research, she would have realized that not only did we defend Roth from her initial attacks, but we also criticized Roth for his response to her.

Now Ms. Finke, I know you’re reading this, and since you don’t like to do any actual research, no matter how easy it may be, I’m including the links for you in this handy dandy blog post. Hope that helps you out, and I hope you keep in touch!

Expect an oral vivisection of Ms. Finke on Splattercast #51

UPDATE: Just as I’d expect, Finke e-mailed me back…

FINKE: “I’m glad you saw the posting. As a tribute to you, I’ll attend a PG-13 horror film. Best, Nikki”

MaT, Deadlantern.com: “Good, I’m glad. I whole-heartedly support PG-13 horror films just as I support R rated horror films, or G and PG for that matter. Just be sure to use the money you’re getting from those “Halloween Horror Nights” advertisements with Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface when you pay for your PG-13 horror film. I’d call “hypocrisy”, but I think you already know that

Cheers
Deadlantern.com

P.S. Heck, rather then spend the money on a PG-13 horror flick, use our “tribute” to go rent A Nightmare on Elm Street or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. ”

Filed under: Commentary | 5 Comments »

Like the other fellas, I’m going to list five of my favorite movies. Unlike them, I’m going to cop out and not rank them. It’s hard enough to choose just five, and then to rank them is even harder. Braden made a great comment, saying that if you asked him to rank his top five again at some other point in time, that his list might be different. I totally agree; if you ask me a year from now, or maybe even next week, to list my top five again, my list may very well be different.

Here are five of my favorites…

Evil Dead 2 (1987) - Too obvious? What can I say, ED2 is one of my all-time favorites. It stands up to repeat viewings better than many other horror movies because it’s just so damned much fun.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (1987) - I remember seeing posters for ANOES3 at the theater in the Conestoga Mall when I was just a little kid (side note: could those ANOES posters possibly be any more awesome?) and I had an instant infatuation with this movie. You could argue that the first ANOES was scarier, but part 3 defined Freddy for me.

Hellraiser 2 (1988) - Sure, the first Hellraiser movie is ok, but the sequel far surpasses it. The skinless Julia lingering in the apartment is such an amazing image.

Event Horizon (1997) - I saw this in the theater with my girlfriend (now my wife) back when we were in high school, so there’s a bit of nostalgia. Beyond that, though, I think EH is the scariest melding of sci-fi and horror I’ve ever seen. Yes, even scarier than Alien.

Re-Animator (1985) - Is it a zombie movie? Is it a mad scientist movie? Is it a dark comedy? Is it a gore flick? It’s all of that and more. Jeffrey Combs creates one of the most memorable anti-heroes in all of moviedom with his portrayal of Dr. Herbert West.

So there are my five unranked favorites. Leave a comment, let me know what you think of my choices.

Filed under: Commentary, Top 5... | 6 Comments »

After commenting on MaT’s top 5 post, I, for whatever reason, started thinking about horror franchises. The film series that produced the most recognizable horror icons around today. The ones that always come to mind to me are A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And you know what? Elm Street is the only franchise whose first film in the series isn’t one I abso-fucking-lutely despise. I have a feeling I’m in the extreme horror minority.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre = suck.
Friday the 13th = suck.
Halloween = super suck.

Filed under: Commentary, Movies | 7 Comments »

As was mentioned on the last Splattercast in regards to the Sleepy Cast asking for submissions for everyone’s 5 favorite horror films, it might be fun for all of us here at Deadlantern to post our favorite horror films leading up to Halloween. Understandably, it’s incredibly difficult to solidify 5, and only 5, films that we would consider our favorites. But in the interest of good fun, here’s my list:

5. The Last Man on Earth (1964): My favorite Vincent Price film and one of the most underappreciated and influential modern horror films of all-time in my opinion.

4. The Fly (1986): Cronenberg created the most horrifying love story I’ve ever seen. This movie still kicks my ass every time I watch it. No film has ever combined love and horror more grotesquely and effectively on screen.

3. The Mummy (1932): I love everything about this movie. It’s my favorite Universal horror film and my favorite Universal monster. I got to see this on the big screen this past summer and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at the theatre.

2. The Thing (1982): I don’t remember the experience, but my mom took me to see this when I was less than a year old. I consider this a perfect horror film. Paranoia, fear, horror and suspense have never been duplicated as well as they have in this film (with the possible exception of Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

1. Halloween (1978): This is it for me. The one film horror film that has never been surpassed for me. I can’t even describe adequately how much of an impact this movie had on my life and how I view horror films. The music, mood, atmosphere, villain, heroine, director….everything…are the be all end all as far as I’m concerned. The only reason it gets the nod over The Thing is because of the impact it had on me, otherwise they are on equal hallowed ground.

Look for the other guy’s to post their lists in the coming days.

Filed under: Commentary, Top 5... | 4 Comments »

A while back I wrote a commentary defending Eli Roth from Nikki Finke.

Now comes the news that Eli Roth has contacted Finke and declared that he is all but out of the torture business of horror. Finke, no doubt, is doing jumping jacks right about now, probably feeling her moral authority has been validated in someway.

Roth: “As far as violence goes, I think at this point I’ve pushed the boundaries of horror as far as I can, and it’s someone else’s turn to take over spilling blood and guts. I have new challenges and much more ambitious ideas that are not horror related that I’m working on, as well as other artistic endeavors outside of film. I love directors like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, who pushed the boundaries of gore and horror in their early career, and then took that same energy and aesthetic and applied it to other genres. I’ll always love horror and I’m sure I’ll make more horror movies, but once you’ve spilled that much blood, you kind of have it out of your system and look for other ways to make audiences scream and cheer and vomit.”CHUD has a commentary (from a Pro-Roth supporter) that raises some genuine questions such as “What the hell is Roth trying to do by appeasing Nikki Finke?”

In my previous post analogy, I likened Roth to defending a family member you can’t stand. I find it difficult to defend him now. This is now a case of said family member rejecting your support and “joining the enemy”, so to speak. It’s perfectly reasonable for Roth to want to venture into other things besides horror. That’s probably a good thing in his case. But to essentially bow before Finke and validate her point of view? Unforgiveable, in my opinion. Roth would have had my respect if he had told Finke that he was personally moving in a different direction, but that she could shove her self-righteous opinion up her ass and that he would strongly support any “torture porn” horror film. The CHUD title asks if Eli Roth is “Selling out”. I don’t know if that is the correct term, but I hereby take back any defense of Roth that I previously stated. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t defend the horror genre to some people and then turn your back on it to others. Especially to people who are not “within” the community and have trashed it. This is a perfect example of why I’ve always felt Roth was a douchebag.

I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back by someone I didn’t even like to begin with

I don’t know, what do you guys think?

Filed under: Commentary, News | 12 Comments »

There’s an interesting commentary over at CHUD.com about the author’s dislike for revealing Halloween costumes.

Aside from the fact that the Sleepy Boys will blow their loads over the picture that accompanies the article, I was curious as to hear what all of you have to say about this particular topic?

Filed under: Commentary, News | 11 Comments »